This year brought on dietary doom when I was diagnosed with gluten intolerance. It was so sad to say goodbye to bread and cake. Luckily, I realized I love tapioca! And quinoa made a grand entrance into my life as well.

I just fell in love with Korean quesadillas. Here me out: this one place in Brooklyn takes traditional flour tortillas, stuffs them with goat cheese, and tops it all off with sour cream, pickled onions, and kimchee. It sounds like a mish-mash, I know, but it’s a no-fail hangover cure.

The Huffington Post named Prantl’s Burnt Almond Torte as the best cake in America. Prantl’s happens to be a Pittsburgh institution and it has been dangerous living close to this fluffy, crunchy almond-encrusted cake.

I spent years resisting Brussels sprouts, those boiled cabbage-y things, but this year I became a convert. The trick, which a friend taught me, is to roast them and toss them in salt, pepper, honey, and sriracha. You won’t be sorry.

Jeni’s Brambleberry crisp ice cream. I’d been eyeing this white and purple marbled pint of ice-cream at Whole Foods for like, a year before I bought it because 14 bucks for ice-cream is a little severe. BUT I can confidently say it’s the best ice cream I’ve ever had in my entire life. It’s comprised of vanilla ice-cream, chunks of buttery oat-streusel, and bits of blackberries and black currents.